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Its the Easter long weekend and arent holidays great? As a nation I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we love public holidays, especially if they fall before or after a weekend, or in the case of Easter; both. Four whole days off work; it cant get much better than that.
A short while a go I was exercising on my cross-trainer and watching TV. A news break came on and they said that many Christians had been visiting their local churches today because Good Friday is one of the most significant dates on the religious calendar. So I got to thinking, we are having this holiday because of Jesus and yet a large proportion of our population arent Christian and dont even acknowledge the existence of Christ. Why should these people benefit from a holiday brought about by something they dont even believe in?
I was raised a Christian. My parents were always very religious and still are to this day. I use to do all the usual things that Christian kids do; go to church, study the Bible, socalise with like-minded kids and so on. I guess you could say that religion somewhat ruled my life until I turned 18 and broke away from the stifling environment that my parents made me endue. Without a doubt, when I moved out of home and got my own life my devotion to religion decreased significantly. Although I still believe in the principals of Christianity, the conformity that being part of a religion demands is not for me at this present time.
Whats a rabbit got to do with Easter anyway?
My husband is an atheist. When I met him over nine years a go I was still living with my parents so you can probably imagine the trouble his distain for all things religious caused in my household. My parents were extremely disapproving because I guess they were worried that his lack of interest in Christianity was going to cause me to loose my faith. To a certain extent they were right. I dont go to church any more, I dont read the Bible and I dont pray nearly as often as I should, but despite all that I still believe in God, in the principals of Christianity and in creation; none of this evolution crap for me thank you very much!
So whilst I believe that perhaps I am not as deserving of this Easter holiday as some devout Christians, I do believe that because I acknowledge the symbolism of the event and understand the meanings behind it that I am still more deserving of this holiday than an atheist who has no regard for God whatsoever. Its ironic that people, such as my husband, refuse to acknowledge the existence of God but are still perfectly happy to enjoy a holiday that is hosted in His name. And the same goes for Christmas.
Isnt it interesting that our two major holidays are celebrations of God? Personally I think its all a bit of a mockery considering so many of us choose not to believe in Him. Perhaps instead we should change Easter to be a holiday celebrating monkeys because apparently, according to those who entertain the notion of evolution, we came from them. And how about we brainstorm a replacement for Christmas too?
A few weeks a go I quit my job of nearly three years. I was in a managerial role and worked a long side the owner of the company and I knew that he knew that I was good at what I did. The problem was that I wasnt rewarded for my work and I was taken advantage of. Ive experienced similar problems before. It seems that if youre a competent worker youre just simply taken for granted. Employers expect more but dont give anything in return. For me, theres only so much of a one-sided relationship I can take. I got sick of being exploited and flogged for little reward so I got myself a new job and resigned from my old one and boy, did my boss do a total 360 or what? All of a sudden there was a new job title on offer and a $13,000 pay increase. I was in the exact same position five years a go in another job. I was treated like dirt by my boss so I resigned and then he offered me the world to make me stay. I didnt fall for it then and I havent fallen for it now because at the end of the day its too little, too late. It shouldnt take for me to resign for my peers to acknowledge my worth. Its a reactive approach, not a proactive one and I dont respect people who work like that.
Employers reward your employees!
Besides the issue of lack of reward, I was finding it difficult to work in a negative environment. Virtually everything positive I did to promote the business was trampled on by negative attitudes and feedback from the management crew and it got to the point where I realised that whatever I did it was never going to be good enough for them. My manager, the owner, said that it was human nature; tall poppy syndrome I guess, and that I needed to continue to keep pushing on. Well I got sick of it because Im only human and I have feelings and their unrealistic expectations were making me bitter and resentful. I believe when you reach the point where you feel distain for the people you work with on a daily basis then youre probably past the point of no return.
I was disappointed that I wasnt able to stay in my job for longer but despite all the promises that my boss made to me about everything changing I didnt believe him because I knew that the problems were bigger than him and he was powerless to stop it. I didnt want to show him up as a liar six months from now if I stayed and then hated the job and him even more, so I did what I needed to do and left.
I am hosting positive feelings about my new job and the opportunities itll bring me and I hope, for my sake and theirs, that they value me as a competent and dedicated employee because I would prefer not to be sitting here, writing this same story in three years time.
I celebrated my birthday recently. Im now on the downhill slide towards the big 3-0 but I still love birthdays. It means that for a few days its all about me. I enjoy friends and family celebrating my special time with me. I always organise a big dinner party with 20 of my closest friends and they come, bearing gifts and good wishes, to enjoy some good food, drink and conversation. I love that I can bring my friends together once a year and that the one thing theyve all got in common is me.
So this year I got an extra special present from my husband. Hes always very generous to me and I appreciate it because I know it means that he loves me very much. This year I got something awesome; a Samsung 40-inch LCD TV, and it is stunning. Those who know me well will acknowledge that I am a big fan of visual entertainment. I love movies and TV series and have many shows that I watch religiously. For some, reading a book helps them relax but for me theres nothing better than a TV show. Watching TV transports me to a world where I dont have to think about work and relationships and my own problems.
40 inches of pleasure
Previously we had a very old, very small box that barely passed for a TV. This new model is a beauty! The quality of imagery and sound is mind blowing. Sometimes on the HD channels the picture quality will look so real that it is literally unreal. Its simply impressive. It makes me wonder how I lived for so many years without it. To make up for lost time I am watching a lot of TV and DVDs and I cannot get enough.
Some might say that itd do me better to get off my arse and get outside and enjoy fresh air and nature. But my take on the matter is we cant help what we love so you take naturist approach to life if you must and Ill enjoy my 40 inches of pure pleasure on my couch.
I was watching one of the V8 Supercar races on TV recently. Of all the types of motorsports available for our viewing pleasure, probably the V8 Supercars is the one I can tolerate the best. I like cars, and especially big beefy cars. In fact, my first car was a Holden Commodore. So I watched this race on and off. I wasnt much interested in watching TV on that particular day so I busied myself around the house mostly.
I sat down in the afternoon to eat lunch just as the race finished (Ford won; boo!) and was presented with a face full of chicks with big tits and perky arses on my 40-inch LCD. Thats right, it was podium time (not of the strip-club variety peoples, settle down). These four ladies were taking part in the awards ceremony. Each one of them held a trophy which they in turn offloaded to the three winning drivers. I had to laugh to myself as I watched them standing there freezing their tits off in hot pants, bras and mini skirts. The one who was holding the winners cup was especially funny. It was obvious she was buckling under the weight of the enormous cup she was being forced to hold; it probably weighed more than her! But through it all, she kept smiling her big, white fake smile that looked like it had been painted on or was being held in place by botox! She was probably thinking, look at me, Im on TV, this could be my big break. Get over it sweetheart! If your big break has to start by you wear nothing more than a bra and a belt on TV then youre doomed before you start.
Gentlemen start your engines
The awards ceremony finishes by each of the winning drivers being given an over-sized bottle of champagne, which they each promptly shake, and spray all over the models, who jump up and down, scream and giggle. Hang on; this isnt a wet t-shirt competition is it?
So I will admit it, I am just a teeny, weeny bit jealous of the bodies these bimbos boast. Im a normal female with a bit of flab and cellulite so when us size 16 girls are privy to size 6 tits on a stick it can be a little confronting. I can acknowledge that what theyve got is attractive, to both men and women. Its the ideal that is so often portrayed in the media (an ideal that is nearly impossible to reach and maintain for most of us). But I beg to question why we need to have nearly naked girls presenting awards to drivers and being ogled by thousands of on-lookers? Why do we never have half-naked men in hot pants presenting awards to females?
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A womans job is never done, being a woman is a thankless task; whoever coined these phrases was clearly frustrated with their life and Im sad to say that I can identify with them.
When I was little my mum would say to me I wish Id been born a man and if I had my life to live over Id be a man. I use to think about that statement and wonder why she felt that way. I would look at my dad with his short hair, fat belly, bristly face and bland clothing and think, why on earth would my mum want to be him? As far as I was concerned, as an eight-year-old girl, life as a female was great. I got to wear pretty dresses, braid my blonde hair, play with make-up and have an all-round fun time. I didnt understand the full velocity of my mums frustrations until I became an adult and had to do womans work as my now-husband so politely calls it.
I moved out of home when I was in my late teens and started living in a shared house with a couple of other people. I thought it was going to be fantastic, living out of home, and it was in some ways. In other ways it was a nightmare. Not only was I working full-time but I had to come home at 5pm and do housework and cook dinner; it was just overwhelming! Where had the fun gone? The fact of the matter is that reality is not often fun and so I then began to truly identify with my mum. I understood why she felt the way she did, all this tending and caring for the household was damn hard and boring! And now its even worse for me because Im married and living in my own home so the sense of ownership I feel is overwhelming. I am definitely my mothers daughter; shes a perfectionist and so am I. Im not ashamed of it, no way, but it does mean that I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to my own expectations.
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So today I was stood up. Not by a boyfriend or a lover (Im married for goodness sake!) but by a girlfriend, and no, I dont mean of the lesbian variety, I mean of the good old-fashioned friend that is a girl variety. So her and I had planned this catch-up at my place last weekend. Its something we do every six weeks or so. She comes over to my place with her daughter and dog, her daughter and dog and my dog run around my lounge room madly, wildly, whilst my friend and I endeavor to have an adult conversation over the sound of dogs barking and her daughter screaming gleefully. Its not the most relaxing Sunday afternoon experience but you know, I tolerate it because shes my friend and I want to see her.
So, she sent me a text message at 2pm saying are we still on for 3pm? I text back straight away most definitely, see you then. Id spent the morning cleaning and tidying, as I like my house to look spick and span when I have visitors so I was glad she wasnt baling on me.
Let me set the scene for you; my friend is a free spirit, shes very random and quirky and thats what I love about her. A downside of having such left-field personality is that shes also the most hideous timekeeper youve ever met. Once she was supposed to be at my place at 3pm and she showed up at 4.45pm. I was just about to call her to say, forget it! but she showed up on the doorstep panting with some silly explanation. I even once tried a new technique in the hope she might show up on time. I told her a time 30 minutes earlier than usual but it didnt work; she was still an hour late.
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Does anybody know why relatives are so difficult to get along with it? My definition of a family is a group of strangers who happen to share the same surname or an affiliation through marriage or birth
and thats basically it. Nothing more, nothing less. Now I am sincere when I say that I want for more than this. I am an only child and Ive always yearned for a brother or sister. I remember as a child that I would get so bored and I would never have anyone at my disposal to share that boredom with. At least when youve got siblings you can be bored together but when youre an only child its your problem and no one elses.
Family Photo, SuziJane, Flickr
So I dont see any of my family, besides my mum and dad. Ive got a couple of aunties, uncles and cousins in the same country as me but most of the time they might as well not be. My cousin got married recently and I wasnt invited to his wedding. Can you believe it? And it gets worse considering I got married a few months before him and invited him to my wedding and he didnt even have the courtesy to return the RSVP card to say thanks but no thanks. Its not like it would have been hard; I included the RSVP card and the return envelope (addressed to me) with the invite. All he had to do was put a stamp on it and post it (perhaps paying the 50 cents for the stamp was the issue?) So I hope he had a lovely wedding and that theyll be very happy together
blah, blah, blah, whatever. I hate that I care about people and it feels like they dont give a toss about me. If hed invited me to his wedding I would have jumped on the first plane I could find to share that special occasion and I guess thats what hurts the most; knowing Id do that for him but he wouldnt do that for me.
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Some of you will probably think it very peculiar and random for someone to write about paper. For sure, its not the most interesting or controversial topic of discussion but for me paper is a very important commodity; up there with food and shelter. For example, newspapers, books
toilet paper and the list goes on.
Specifically in this blog I want to talk about my relationship with an old, faithful friend; white A4 paper. Im talking about the stuff you find in offices throughout the world. And yes, I am a paper-shuffler by trade. Paper, you could say, keeps me in a job. If it wasnt for paper my days of earning an honest living would be numbered. Being a paper shuffler is all I know and all I ever want to know, because in paper I have found my inner sanctuary. I write on paper, I print documents on paper, I send paper to business affiliates through the mail, I fax paper to my interstate colleagues and as I type this blog the computer-generated page Im etching my words on looks like a piece of white A4 paper! It is amazing just how much I do use paper. Thank God for trees I say, without them how could I enjoy using my precious paper?
But on a negative note, paper does, and Im sorry to say this, sometimes frustrate me. I mean there are only so many lever arch files, manila folders and document holders, that look like over-sized toast racks, that one woman can tolerate. Its like I could possibly have nightmares sometime soon about the attack of the killer paper. I have so much paper filed and stored that the sheer weight of it could probably take me down, should it choose to turn on me, the one that loves and cares for it most. But then again, I did complain, so perhaps I deserve it?
From Stussi's Photos, Flickr
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Comment by Babyjrulz
on Proactive not reactive work ethics please